Canada’s Tyson Venegas advanced to the next round of competition on Monday’s episode of American Idol.
“He may be about the biggest star we’ve ever encountered,” Luke Bryan told fellow judges Lionel Richie and Katy Perry after the B.C. teen performed Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” with Kaylin Hedges. Perry said his performance gave her goosebumps.
Venegas got to sit out the solo round of competition during “Hollywood Week” because he earned a Platinum ticket at his audition last September (which aired in February). For the duets round, he chose Hedges – another Platinum ticket recipient – as a partner. The “Hollywood Week” episodes were taped during the first week of December.
Both were put through to the “Showstoppers” round, which air April 9 and 10.
Venegas, 17, hails from Port Moody, B.C. He won the PNE Star Showdown in 2013 when he was only seven years old and, a year earlier, the BC Junior Talent Contest at the Cloverdale Rodeo.
In 2020, Venegas competed on the Filipino version of The Voice Teens but had to drop out before the “Knockout” rounds due to pandemic travel restrictions. As Ty Waters, he appeared on Little Big Shots.
Venegas is not the only B.C. singer on this season of American Idol. Emma Busse, a 20-year-old from Burnaby, advanced after performing YEBBA’s “My Mind” on the episode that aired Sunday.
American Idol started allowing Canadians to compete in its 18th season. B.C. singer Lauren Spencer-Smith became the first Canadian to make it to the Top 20 of Idol but she was eliminated in the first viewers-voted round.
In 2021, Ontario’s Heather Russell and Lorand Kis earned golden tickets at their auditions but didn’t make it past Hollywood Week.
And last season, Cameron Whitcomb of Kamloops, B.C., Toronto university student Nicolina Bozzo and Toronto-born Leah Marlene made it into the Top 24. Marlene made it all the way to the Season 20 finale.
Early winners of American Idol found fame and fortune (Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood) – as did several competitors who didn't win (Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson, Gabby Barrett) – but winners from recent seasons have struggled to breakout.